Kyiv - the life in Ukrainian capital in January 2023

Some people ask me how is life in Kyiv, the capital of the country which is under russian attack. For all foreign friends and acquaintances I say - if you have some time and you are not afraid of the minimal risk - please come. Now it's time to build, time to invest. But if you are afraid to do it (like most of people) - just come and drink beer, and eat in the restaurants - on a minimal level it will also help the economy. Few people will come at the end... especially my readers on crypto blogs, who are from all over the world. Well - for you I just want to share some impressions about life in Kyiv.

The last days of winter are very warm in Kyiv. Some people even say that this is one more reason why "God is on our side". russians bombed and continue to hit our infrastructure, causing problems with electricity, and they would really like to see Ukrainian cities is the dark and in the cold where people would freeze to death. But this didn't happen.

The same with electricity shortage - that's obvious that there is some shortage in the system. In some places, the electricity is turned off for some time, while other buildings or places are lucky - and they rarely or never face the lack of electricity. Anyway, the people got used to it. Some businesses bought power generators. I got used to that sometimes when the cafe or restaurant works in the generator - it's not possible to order coffee or something else from the menu. People got used to candles and in some cases, half-empty cafes and restaurants look romantic. This makes the atmosphere. In Kyiv you can have a feeling that war is going on, while you may lose this feeling in some of the western cities.

The traffic of cars on the streets is anyway much smaller than a year ago. There are almost no traffic jams. Most of us would prefer to have traffic jams and spend more time on transport than to have a war. But that's like it is... Anyway, it's not March of 2021 when Kyiv looked deserted and silent and there was a feeling of danger everywhere. Since russian troops withdrew from the north of the capital - the feeling of danger started to vanish. Yes, some people live as if "back to normal". There are some parties and celebrations going on, but of course on such a smaller scale than it was before. The less time left till the curfew hour (which is at 11 pm) - the more lonely city becomes. The shopping malls look like in the post-apocalyptic films...

The cultural life is going on: cinema, theatre, music concerts. Often, such events start earlier. The book publishing industry survived and there are new books published. New cafe-libraries open, for example, "Book Lion" on Podil. Such places are very popular. That's life. Some places shut down, now open. Now it's cheaper to live in Kyiv in $ equivalent. Rent is cheaper, you can find a flat for $200 per month or even less.

The negative consequence on the economy can be observed in the increased number of people who ask you cigarettes. I'm smoking more than before, but I didn't start to drink alcohol again. Even though it can help relax, I have other ways to relax - reading, writing, and walking on the streets of Eternal City, I usually walk an hour a day or so: sometimes in the region where I stay or sometimes in the center. The cigarettes prices increased - that's something which can be felt. No wonder some people stopped buying them, and not only bums ask for cigarettes, but ordinary people. Cigarettes are also the supply which I prefer to have more. I switched from Parliament Carat to Ukrainian brand Marvel (produced in Lviv region) and it's not available in all cigarette shops. Another habit which formed (and I'm not only talking about myself) is to have the almost full amount of fuel in a car. Yes, there are no lines now. But the shortages and lines might return. Moreover, most of fuel stations don't work during times of air alert. So that's good to know that you can drive at any time and drive long distances.

The streets change their names. Some streets are called now in the names of new heroes, who died in this war against russians. Other streets take the name our Ukrainian historical figures. russians in past tried to dominate not only militarily and politically, but also economically and culturally. Many Ukrainians did this shift from "russian culture" to Ukrainian in 2014 after russians occupied Crimea, and in 2022 russians bombs were more persuasive than words. "russian culture" to say was not so presented by classics or how you can imagine - but by stupid TV soap operas or films about criminals, russian rap, and russian social media "influencers". That's not the culture at all. But now Kyiv shows its desire to change the street names according to our understanding of the past and the future.

For example, Lva Tolstogo street will be now Hetmana Pavla Skoropadskoho (the ruler of Ukraine in 1918 whose had great vision on Ukrainian state). Pushkinska street was renamed in Evhena Chykalenka, and Moscow street (yes, that's surprisingly that we had it till now) - into Ostrogski Princes'.

In any case, it's better to see than to read. So invite you to come, if not now -in the future, after Ukrainian victory. Some people think there will be a lot of opportunities. But even now there are opportunities and Kyiv remains the cultural, political, and economical megapolis - it's nice and interesting to be here. That's why millions of people think the same and remain here.